Lloyd's delays John Neal's AIG start over competition fears

Times

2 days ago

Lloyd's of London has blocked its former chief executive John Neal from starting his new job at American insurance giant AIG until December, to avoid concerns about competition and confidentiality.
Neal resigned from the insurance market in January, after six years as chief executive, to take up a role at Aon, the professional services and insurance firm. But last week, the insurance industry was stunned when it was announced he would instead join AIG.
Neal worked his notice at Lloyd's until May and was due to start his new role at Aon in September. However, he will not join AIG until December.
It is thought that the change in the start date relates to the fact that Lloyd's, as an insurance market, regards AIG, an underwriter, as a closer competitor than Aon, which is a broker.
It is not clear whether Neal will be paid during this additional period. His salary was £770,000 before bonuses. He and Lloyd's declined to comment.
Lloyd's traces its roots back to the Edward Lloyd coffee shop in London in 1688 and has evolved from insuring ships to a wide range of potential risks, from cyber to satellite launches.
According to AIG, Neal will have offices in both London and New York and will join as president, running general insurance. He has known Peter Zaffino, AIG's chairman and chief executive, for more than 20 years. In an email to staff, according to a source, Zaffino described Neal 'as one of the most accomplished executives in our industry'.
AIG launched a syndicate at Lloyd's earlier this year.
At Aon, Neal was to have become global chief executive of reinsurance and global chairman of climate solutions. Its chief executive, Greg Case, said he wished Neal 'great success' and that Aon looked 'forward to working with him at AIG'.
At Lloyd's, he has been replaced by insider Patrick Tiernan.